Like Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck is someone who shouldn't be given the time of day, but for some reason, the verbal diarrhea he can't help but spew continues to make national news. But you know, maybe it's actually worth discussing because it embodies the ignorance and insensitivity that continue to pervade the U.S. His most recent comments are the perfect case-in-point.
On his radio show on Tuesday, he broached the topic of the use of the term "African-American." Apparently, Beck thinks "African-American" is inaccurate, and "colored" is more appropriate. OMFG. Can we please just put this guy, Rep. Joe Wilson, and Rep. Doug Lamborn in some kind of shuttle built exclusively for raging racist Republicans and launch them out into space?!
Oh, and somehow, this discussion escalated from bad to worse.
Beck showed his utter ignorance as he went on about how "African-American" isn't the right label for black people in "Africa, in Europe, in South America, in Jerusalem," so "how can people be one thing in one country and nowhere else in the world?"
Um, let's see ... maybe for the same reason Irish-Americans aren't Irish-Americans if they're residents of Canada, Australia, or Japan?! But they're (usually) white people no matter where they go? Sheesh! For crying out loud, is the guy THAT stupid?!
Then he dug himself an even deeper grave, waxing on about how "colored" is used in places like South Africa, so by extension it should be okay here. Sure, a place that eliminated legal racial segregation (Apartheid) as recently as 1994 is the country we should be looking to for cues?!? Wow. Clearly, the man also has no clue that the term in this country is reminiscent of Jim Crow laws, slavery, and hundreds of years of hate, discrimination, and vile treatment of black Americans.
What it boils down to for Beck, though, is that black people were "gifted" the label "African-American" and continue to embrace it, because they refuse to be straight-up "American" -- even though, he claims, they have it better than ever before in this country, which is, sadly, a ridiculously skewed assertion. He said:
'African-American' was not made to do anything except try to create a super man ... 'Oh, don't you dare feel bad about yourself, you're African-American!' No. You're an American. ... Look at what happened with Martin Luther King. That makes you an American. Judge not by the color of your skin. And you weren't over in Africa. Your great-great-great grandfather was. ... But you weren't. And sure, this country sucked for blacks. Sucked, beyond sucked for a long time. But it doesn't now .... Be proud to be an American.
Caaaaaaarazyyyy! All Beck accomplished with his little rant was to show how much of an ignorant bigot he really is. Not only does he have absolutely no concept of American racial history or sensitivity, but he also seems to need a wake-up call that TONS of Americans identify ourselves by where our ancestors came from. My boyfriend's step-father was Italian-American. We are Jewish-Americans (which opens up a whole different can of worms, because we're a hybrid of religion/ethnicity called "ethnoreligious"). Some of my best friends are Chinese-American and Arab-American. We are all still proud Americans without forgetting our roots. That's what this "melting pot" of a country is supposed to be about. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that head-up-his-butt Beck doesn't "get" that.
What do you think about Beck's argument?
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Comments 34
It is like I can't say I am Mexican. My mom was born there and I was not so I must be Mexican American I am also African American and Mommix4 I will claim African American if I want thank you. So for me it comes down to what someone prefers to "label" who they are. I prefer that over "colored" or "black" anyday!
I used to not mind Glenn Beck. I don't like how preachy he can get, and the crying over stupid things bothers me. I think the WAY he says stuff totally overpowers the message he's trying to convey. It's counterproductive. I GET what he was saying, and I fail to see how it's racist. Still not a Beck fan though.
And Prima, I agree!! I freaking HATE Dr. Laura. She completely belittles the people she tries to "help". It's all black and white to her, and she treats you like you're an idiot for having the problem in the first place.
Honestly, I think that black, coloured, and African American (especially if you are in say, Britain) are all incorrect terms, though if people prefered to be labeled one of those things, than of course they can. White people aren't really even white, I mean, my skin is pretty darn pink. So I think we just need to drop all of that and stop putting people into boxes based on the amount of pigmentation in their skin, especially since in the global community, there are more and more people who don't fit into any of those boxes. But that is just my opinion.
Honestly, it's getting really old, this position of The Stir (as represented by most of the writers) that Republican = evil, racist, dirtbag, etc. And Democrat = pure and innocent as the driven snow.
Perhaps you should go straight to the source, Beck's site, The Blaze, for the ACTUAL story, including the actual recording, instead of relying on the Huffington Post, which is one of the spokes-sites for the Liberal point of view. And which cherry-picked a part of a larger conversation to paint Beck as a bigot.
Further, when are we going to see posts on the previously discussed comments (on yet another Republican-bashing post) from VP Biden about China's One-Child Policy being ok?
When are we going to see a post decrying Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) saying that people want to see blacks "hanging from a tree"? When are we going to see a post slamming Maxine Waters (D-CA), and her "Tea Party can go to hell" comments?
I could go on and on about the deplorable behavior from the Democrats, as they make jackasses of themselves on a daily basis. It would be nice if your readers didn't have to keep taking you all to task for being so obviously biased in your blogging.
Honestly, I don't think I'll ever understand the need to put a qualifier before "American." My parents immigrated here from Europe...does that make me a European-American? No, it doesn't. Because they became American citizens, and are therefore simply Americans. I was born in America, so I am American.
I will grant you that I do not have quite the same historical background as many who prefer to be labeled as "African-Americans", so perhaps I can't understand the necessity for the qualifier.
It's not even consistently used. People who come here from Egypt do not tend to call themselves African-Americans, though by all rights they could. It seems to be a term that is very specifically claimed by the black community.
Answer me this...if I move to Africa and change my citizenship to become an African...should I actually say that I'm an "American-African"? Sounds kind of ridiculous, but then maybe that's simply because it's not in our daily rhetoric.
My point is this: Why do some groups feel the need for a qualifer before the word "American"?
Please no hate, I'm truly not trying to offend, simply to understand.
Tracey, I think it might be because it seems like the title changes every couple of years. When I was a child, the "n" word was still used in some areas; it was in the vernacular. Then it changed to "colored", then it was "black", and finally "african-american". AND there are many people out there who are very, very vocal about it if you slip and call them "black", or the other way around.
If I may be so bold, non-blacks care so much because blacks insist that we do.